‘Last year…’ – Dermot Gallagher makes claim on Chelsea incident in West Brom draw
Dermot Gallagher has admitted he felt sympathy for West Brom after Chelsea’s equaliser in the 3-3 draw at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Moments before Tammy Abraham’s injury-time goal, the ball clearly struck the arm of Kai Havertz, but it didn’t see the goal ruled out.
The former Premier League referee believes the goal would have been disallowed last season, but the incident not being directly in the build-up saw it count.
Gallagher claimed that the ball being slightly cleared meant that play was allowed to continue before the goal was eventually scored.
“The minute that happened last year, the goal would have been looked at and disallowed,” he said on Ref Watch on Sky Sports.
“It hits Havertz on the arm quite accidentally, gets cleared by a defender, runs across the box, comes to a different player and it does not set up an immediate goalscoring opportunity.
“What it does, it goes between players, so, therefore, they are allowed to continue playing and the goal is scored. But it does show that there was some sympathy with what happened last year.”
The handball law is being absolutely destroyed by all pundits and fans this season, with countless incidents already happening.
It doesn’t matter if it is in the build-up to a goal or not, the fact of the matter is that the ball clearly struck Havertz’ arm and it should be disallowed.
Gary Neville was “certain” that in a couple of weeks, the rulings will be changed once again, and in all honesty, we agree.
If Darnell Furlong was deemed to have purposefully played at the ball against Everton, then Havertz must be penalised for this hand-ball.
The rulings aren’t helping the Premier League, and once again, the Baggies can feel hard done by after a superb performance.
In other West Brom news, Baggies set to complete another signing on Monday
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